Dassault Falcon 8X Charter

The Dassault Falcon 8X is the current flagship of the company's three-engine lineage — a forty-year-old family tree that includes the Falcon 50, 900 and 7X. First delivered in 2016, the 8X is a stretched, refined, longer-legged evolution of the 7X, the aircraft that introduced fly-by-wire flight controls to business aviation in 2007. Where most of the industry has moved to twin-engined ultra-long-range jets, Dassault has maintained the trijet configuration for a specific reason: redundancy and short-field performance. Three engines mean the 8X can depart from runways its twin-engine rivals cannot, can operate into airports with one-engine-inoperative climb gradients its competitors would have to refuse, and — for clients who care — provides genuine engine-out range over water that an ETOPS-style twin cannot match.

Powered by three Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307D engines, the 8X has 6,450 nautical miles of range, a top speed of Mach 0.90 and a cabin that runs over 42 feet from the cockpit bulkhead to the rear pressure bulkhead. It is, in raw numbers, neither the fastest nor the longest-range ultra-long-range jet — both the Gulfstream G650 and Global 7500 beat it on either or both metrics — but it pairs serious capability with the lowest fuel burn in its class and the best short-runway performance of any aircraft over $50 million.

For charter clients, the Falcon 8X occupies a specific niche. It is the aircraft of choice for European clients who frequently fly into smaller, more demanding airfields — London City (with appropriate certification), Lugano, Innsbruck, Sion, Saanen, La Môle (the airfield serving Saint-Tropez), Monaco-via-Cannes, Aspen, Telluride — and who need ultra-long-range capability without compromising on those access patterns. It is also a favourite of clients who prioritise cabin quietness; the 8X has the quietest cabin Dassault has ever certified, measuring around 48 dBA at cruise.

The Falcon 8X is the first Falcon with a cabin long enough to fit three distinct living zones plus a galley plus a crew rest area plus a luggage compartment, all within a pressurised section that flies through turbulence with the rigidity of a much larger airliner. Cabin dimensions are 42'8" long, 7'8" wide and 6'2" tall — narrower than a Gulfstream G650 but with a meaningfully lower cabin altitude (3,900 ft when cruising at 41,000 ft) and the quietest acoustic environment in the segment.

Operators typically configure the 8X with three to four zones. A forward four-place club for working passengers, a midship four-place conference grouping or six-place dining table, an aft three-place divan that converts to a full-size bed, and either a private aft stateroom or an enlarged crew rest. The Easy Access System galley, forward of the cabin, is large enough for a flight attendant to plate a full meal service for fourteen — comparable to a small restaurant kitchen.

Dassault's FalconCabin HD+ cabin management system is among the most sophisticated in business aviation. Passengers control lighting, shades, temperature, audio-video and entertainment from their own phones or from sidewall touchscreens. The 8X supports 4K monitors, a true cinema-quality sound system, and Ka-band Wi-Fi capable of supporting simultaneous video calls and 4K streaming throughout the cabin.

Two details deserve specific attention. First, the Falcon 8X has the largest selection of bespoke interior options of any production business jet — Dassault offers more than 30 baseline interior schemes and unlimited custom variations, which is why no two 8X cabins on the charter market look identical. Second, the lavatory layouts are noticeably superior to the 7X — the master lavatory is now a full ensuite with shower on most configurations, and the forward crew lavatory has full-height standing room.

Range: 6,450 nm with NBAA reserves, eight passengers and three crew at Mach 0.80 long-range cruise. That is enough for New York to Beijing (with reduced payload), London to Singapore, Geneva to Buenos Aires, or any city-pair in North America to anywhere in Europe with margin. At Mach 0.85 normal cruise, expect 5,800 nm — still enough for almost any practical mission.

Take-off field length is 5,880 ft at maximum take-off weight — meaningfully shorter than a G650 (5,858 ft) or Global 6000 (6,000 ft) at equivalent weights, and dramatically shorter once you reduce fuel for a regional mission. Landing distance is just 2,220 ft, the shortest of any ultra-long-range jet by a wide margin. This is what allows the 8X to operate into airports the Gulfstream and Bombardier competition simply cannot consider.

Three-engine redundancy is the other half of the story. On a two-engine ultra-long-range jet flying a Pacific or polar route, an engine failure obliges an immediate diversion to the nearest suitable airfield, often hours from the destination. On the 8X, an engine failure is a non-event from a routing perspective — the aircraft continues to its planned destination with full performance margin. For clients flying frequent over-water or over-remote routes, this is a meaningful difference, not a marketing line.

The Falcon 8X's natural mission is the long, high-value, single-leg trip. London to Tokyo. New York to Tel Aviv. Geneva to Buenos Aires. Riyadh to Los Angeles. Hong Kong to London. These are the trips for which the cabin's bedroom, the low cabin altitude and the three-engine redundancy combine to deliver an arrival experience the client and accompanying team will actually be ready to work from.

Equally important are the short-runway missions other ultra-long-range jets cannot fly. Aspen in summer with full fuel. La Môle for Saint-Tropez clients. Saanen for Gstaad. London City (subject to STC certification). Sion in winter. These airfields are routine for the 8X and exceptional or impossible for its twin-engine rivals at equivalent payloads.

Finally, the 8X is the right answer for any client whose mission profile mixes both — frequent intercontinental travel with regular use of constrained or high-altitude airfields. It is, more than any other ultra-long-range aircraft, the jet you charter when the answer to 'where might we need to land?' is genuinely 'anywhere'.

Charter hourly rates for a Falcon 8X are typically $14,000 to $17,500 globally — slightly above a Gulfstream G550 and below a G650 or Global 7500. Direct operating cost for owners sits around $5,200 per hour, which is the lowest in the ultra-long-range category by a noticeable margin — fuel burn per nautical mile is roughly 15% better than the G650 and 20% better than the Global 7500.

Representative one-way all-inclusive charter pricing: London to New York from £89,000; Geneva to Dubai from €78,000; Paris to Tokyo from €185,000; New York to Sao Paulo from $135,000; London to Singapore from £215,000.

Empty-leg availability is more limited on the 8X than on the G650 or Global 6000 because the global fleet is smaller (around 100 aircraft versus more than 500 G650s), but the trade-off is that the available 8Xs tend to be relatively new, owner-flown examples in excellent cosmetic condition.

Direct competitors are the Gulfstream G650/G650ER and the Bombardier Global 6000. The G650 wins on speed (Mach 0.925 vs 0.90), cabin width (8'2" vs 7'8") and pure range with reserves. The Global 6000 wins on cabin width and on the lower price point. The Falcon 8X wins on fuel efficiency, short-runway access, cabin quietness, low cabin altitude and three-engine redundancy. Choose by mission, not by spec sheet alone.

Against the newer Gulfstream G700 and Bombardier Global 7500, the 8X is a generation behind on cabin width and cabin volume — both newer aircraft offer materially more interior space and more headline range. The 8X's short-runway advantage and operating economics remain compelling, but for clients prioritising cabin size above all else, the 7500 and G700 are objectively larger aircraft.

Charter the Falcon 8X when your missions combine intercontinental range with frequent operations into short or constrained airfields, when fuel economy and cabin quietness matter to you, and when three-engine redundancy is something you value rather than dismiss. It is the natural choice for European-headquartered families who divide time between Geneva, Saanen, the Riviera and a long-haul destination, and for global executives whose schedule combines short hops with intercontinental sectors in the same week.

Step up to a Gulfstream G700 or Global 7500 when cabin volume and speed are the priority and short-field access is not. Step down to a Falcon 2000LXS or Challenger 650 when missions consistently fall under 4,000 nautical miles. For the specific combination of long range plus short-runway access, the 8X has no real competition.